Car-starter



mo Model.)

H B. STICKNEY, 2d.

- GAR STARTER. No. 364,061. Patented May 31, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Genres.-

HENRY R. STIOKNEY, 2D, or PORTLAND, MAINE.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,061, dated May 31, 1887.

Application filed February 19, 1887. Serial No. 228,179. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY R. STIoKNEY, 2d, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gar-Starters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to starters for horse cars and other vehicles; and it consists of a ratchet-wheel attached to the car-truek,a pawl engaging such ratchet-wheel, aspring or buffer connected with the said pawl, and meansfor engaging and disengaging the pawl and the ratchet-wheel, whereby the wheel, as it turns backward by the settling of the car down the grade, forces the ratchet to compress the spring 2% or buffer and thus holds the car in equilibrium,

so that it can be started with comparatively.

small force.

My invention further consists in the method of starting cars,wherein the backward motion of the car, as it stops on the grade and settles backward, is utilized to compress a spring or buffer, the force of which reacts as the car is started.

Hitherto great difficulty has been experienced in running horse-cars on account of the great force required to start them when stopped on an upgrade. \Vhen a car is once stopped on a grade, it requires several times the force to start it that is required to keep it in motion when once started. As a result, great injury is frequently done to the horses in starting them on a grade, since they areliable to fall on their knees and otherwise strain and injure themselves.

The difficulty of starting cars on grades has led to the practice of refusing to stop ears when on upgrades to take on passengers, and for other purposes. When motors other than horses are used to propel cars, the same difficulty of starting requires the employment of motors of much greater force than would otherwise be the case.

The design of my invention is to provide a simple, effective, and cheaply-constructed device which will exert sufficient propelling force at the point of starting-to overcome the gravitation due to the grade.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which represents a central longitudinal section through a car furnished with u my device. I

A is a car-body, and B B are the trucks.

0 is a ratchet-wheel, made in two parts and clamped on the trucks by means of clamps D, or otherwise secured thereto.

F F are two straight pawls, the pawl Fengaging theratchet-wheel at one end of the car, and F the other.

Y L is a cylinder secured to the under side of the car-body, and n is a piston contained therein and connecting by the piston-rod N with the pawl F. In the opposite end-of the cylinder L is the piston n, connecting by the rod N with the pawl F. The spring or buffer 0 lies between the two pistons n and n and is free to move lengthwise in. the cylinder L. The cords or chains G G are secured to the ends of the pawls F F, and,passing,over rolls or trucks 9 g,-are secured to the lower ends of the vertical rods i t, which pass one through the forward and one'through the rear platform of the car. Each of these rods 73 has on its upper end a foot-plate, I. WVhen the plate I is not depressed, the spring J presses itfupward, drawing up the cord G sufliciently far to raise the end of the pawl to which it is attached from the ratchel-wheel. When the plate I is depressed, the pawl falls of its own When the car is moving up a grade and stops, the forward plate I is depressed, thus engaging the pawl F. As the car now settles back down the grade, as it always will, the pawl F isforced against the spring 0, thus compressing it until the car is stopped. The spring 0 now exerts a forward pressure, acting through the pawl F on the wheel 13, and tending to turn said wheel, equal to the force by which it was compressed-namely, the downward pull of the ear due to the grade. The effect of the grade is thus neutralized, and when it is desired to start the car the action of the The ratchet-wheel 0, being in two parts,can

be readily adapted to any car, or it can be cast in one piece with the truck, or otherwise secured thereto. Rubber buffers maybe substituted for the spring shown, or by inclining the pawls upward a weight may be used; or advantage may be taken of the weight of the car, the upward thrust of the pawl raising it slightly. '7

I claim--- 1. A car-starter composed of a ratchet-wheel attached to the car-truck, a pawl adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, a compressible spring or buffer connected with said pawl, and means for shipping and unshipping said pawl, combined, substantially as described, whereby the backward motion of the car compresses said spring and the force thus stored is re-exerted when the car is started.

2. A car-starter composed of ratchet-wheels secured to the forward and rear trucks of the car, pawls engaging said ratchet-wheels, pistons connected with said pawls, a cylinder or case secured to the car and containing said pistons, a compressible springor bnfler within said cylinder and between said pistons, and means for shipping and unshipping said pawls, in combination, substantially as described, whereby the backward motion of the car compresses said spring and the force thus stored is re-exerted when the car is started.

3. In a car-starter, a ratchet-wheel secured to the car-truck, a pawl adapted to engage said ratchet, a piston connectedwith said pawl, a cylinder or case secured to the car and containing said piston, a spring or buffer within said cylinder and placed to be acted on by said piston, and means for shipping and unshipping said pawl, all in combination, substantiall y as described, whereby the backward motion of the car compresses said spring and the force thus stored is re-exerted when the car is started.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY R. STIGKNEY, 2D.

WVitnesses:

S. W. Barns, HARRY LEVY. 

